Lena Banks The B**** With The Red Pen Lena Banks took my money, under-delivered by far, Hollywood, California

I'm Lena Banks, known as The B**ch With The Red Pen. You can contact me at 818 666 4357.

God Bless Jon Billingsley, a struggling aspiring scriptwriter. When I got an email from Repcleaners.com alerting me of the posting (which has now been picked up and is now making its round to all the other scam & rant type sites) and they offered me, for a fee, to have this report buried, I said "no way", let's keep it out there for everyone to see because this is one of those Hollywood 101 scenarios that all writers should know about.

I also thought, WOW, this person thinks I'm important enough to trash on the Internet even though it will ruin his chances at following his dream?

Go figure. Ive got 18 professional years in the Hollywood industry as a proofreader, Pro Reader, and liaison to agents and managers and I know the signs of a severely challenged and difficult writer, but I, like others, still try to help them. My clients go on to write awesome screenplays and pursue their dreams.

What became clear to me is that Jon was not willing to accept that his script needed industry standard technical and creative corrections. Due to this, he made the mistake of trying to publicly discredit my services when it was his own unwillingness to learn to write well and take feedback as a positive and helpful experience.

Heres what Jon doesnt tell you

He was referred by a literary agency. He didn't see my ad - a literary agency referred him - they helped him by referring 3 Readers/proofreaders he could contact to get help from to get his script up to speed. I had no reason to tell him I would present his script to big Hollywood agents as he was referred by one agent and he stated that.

I gave him a discount for being referred. Hollywood 101: Can you imagine having a literary agency refer you to someone to help you, that could help make your dreams come true and you trash them?

He backstabbed a referral from a Literary agent! That's the same as trashing the agency. Do you think this writer will ever, ever get an agent to consider him? Do you think Hollywood will work with this writer? Absolutely not - not a chance.

After a few weeks from his first information gathering call I got another call from him where he immaturely whined that the other Reader told him he didn't have time to help him and it "wasn't his fault" as he put it. I spoke with the Reader after this was posted. The Reader stated that he had spent 3 agonizing weeks working with Jon already and didnt get paid for hours and hours of work either. The Reader shared that this didnt have time was what he had to finally say because he was fed up trying to help him. The Reader stated he had tried for weeks to get Jon to fix script errors and to remove his pornographic scenes and Jon would constantly lie and say he would, but he wouldnt fix the elements that needed to be addressed and lied constantly to him that he would make the changes, but didnt.

I had no reason to pitch Jon anything. He knew full well that his script was to be analyzed for technical and formatting errors. That is why he was referred by the Literary Agent and that is exactly why he hired me. Jon isnt upset because of my services he is upset because he received feedback on his script and he didnt like it. Every possible mistake you can make he made. Every single page had red marks on it.

While Jon was waiting for his script, which took much longer than most since there was so much wrong with it, I gave him a free hour & 1/2 bonus phone consultation from the UK (on my dime) valued at over $250. He got that for free, and yet, he says I under delivered and only wanted money. The other Reader admitted that Jon ran him ragged and he made less than minimum wage in trying to help him. The other Reader admitted that he gave up and simply told Jon what he wanted to hear.

After 18 years in Hollywood, of course I know people all over town, but I would have no reason to name drop to someone like Jon.

Billingsley states "Basically, she took my money, didn't deliver anything she promised." Both I and the other Reader truly over-delivered way more than was outlined our services provided.

Hollywood 101: How is it possible, that Jon overlooked that a great script can sell for a quarter of a million dollars and producers and studios pump millions into those scripts? Was this Internet rant worth losing that chance? Are you a writer like Jon who blames everyone but himself? There was an easy, mature alternative to ranting on the Internet all he had to do was call me and state intelligently his concerns and I would have advised him and worked out a solution. I always spend extra time with my clients on my dime. I'm here to help - my mission is to help you achieve your mission.

Hollywood 101: Don't stab, speak badly, trash, or lash out publically at anyone in Hollywood if you're trying to make a go of it. Your dreams of being a scriptwriter and selling a script are very important - don't be immature, don't lash out when you're disappointed and want to blame it on someone else. Get help. You and I both know not everyone will make it. To your passion and success as a writer, Lena Banks http://www.TheB**chWithTheRedPen.com